Australian Couple Abandons Surrogate Twin with Down Syndrome, Keeps Healthy Sister

By John Jalsevac
Life Site News

Strangers around the world are rallying around a Thai woman who has vowed to take care of the newborn boy she carried as a surrogate mother, after she says he was abandoned by his biological parents when he was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

According to the surrogate mother the now seven-months-old baby, Gammy, was only born alive after she refused the Australian biological parents’ request that she abort him late in the pregnancy.

Meanwhile the unidentified Australian couple have reportedly taken the boy’s twin sister, who was born healthy, back with them to their home country.

“I felt sorry for the boy,” Pattharamon Janbua, the surrogate mother, told ABCNews. “This is the adults’ fault. Why does he have to endure this when it’s not his fault?”

“I don’t know what to do. I chose to have him, not to hurt him. I love him.”

The Australian couple reportedly paid Ms. Pattharamon, 21, the equivalent of about $12,000 to act as surrogate. She accepted the offer, she says, because she needed the money to pay off debts, and in hopes that she could afford to educate her other two children - a six-year-old and a three-year-old.

However, like many babies with Down syndrome, the boy – named Gammy - has suffered from health complications, including a congenital health condition. He was hospitalized over the past weekend.Meanwhile Ms. Pattharamon has been left footing the medical bills.

But after her story captured headlines around the world in the past week, thousands of strangers have stepped forward and contributed to a “Hope for Gammy” fund, raising over $200,000 that will be used to take care of the boy.

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